Study keeps pace with Greenland glaciers

Herky-jerky motion suggests worst-case sea level rise unlikely

Time-lapse snapshots showing Greenland’s glaciers racing toward the sea in recent years have turned up some good news, and some bad news.

As the island’s glaciers disintegrate over coming decades, they won’t raise the world’s oceans as much as the most pessimistic forecasts had shown possible, researchers report in the May 4 Science. But the blocks of ice are still melting rapidly and may contribute worrisome centimeters to sea level rise by the end of the century.

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